…One year ago…
"Mom, what's wrong? You haven't said anything since you got here," said Henry to Regina in the back work room area of the Pawnshop. From the ladder he was perched from, he could see from over his mother's shoulder a black and white candle being held in her hands.
"Nothing, it's just," she said as she placed the item back on the shelf in front of her, "going through your grandfather's things always stirs up cruel memories. I should get going anyways. Call me if you need anything." She didn't want Henry to see the hurt on her face as she made her way to leave the shop.
"Aren't you coming to Neal's birthday party?" Henry asked as he lifted a box up off from on top of a filing cabinet. The question stopped Regina from exiting the shop. Without looking up at him she answered somberly, "I can't unfortunately. I'm… going to head to our family tomb."
"Why?" he asked curiously as he descended the ladder, setting the box down that was in his hands on the nearest work table. She turned around and faced her son bravely as she replied slowly, "I'm not expecting you to understand but seven years ago today… my mother died."
"Cora… oh," said Henry sadly, "I'm… I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. This time each year Neal's birthday always overshadows my mother's death, and understandably so. My mother, Cora, wasn't exactly a good person when she was alive. But… she loved me and I loved her. She was killed by Mary-Margaret using that candle," she said pointing to the black and white candle she had placed on the shelf, "under the suggestion of Mr. Gold. So as you can see, it doesn't exactly make for a great conversation starter at a party meant to celebrate their son."
"I suppose that would explain why you've never come to any of Neal's birthday parties." Henry thought for a moment as they paused to reflect on the incident from their past. He asked, "You said that she wasn't exactly a good person. What did you mean by that? What was good about her?"
Regina replied, "My mother was very ambitious, fiercely intelligent and extremely powerful. I would even go far as to say that she gave Mr. Gold a run for his money, and that's saying a lot because your grandfather was rarely impressed by anyone. But my mother… she had her faults and her complete lust for power warped her ambitions. I suppose that it didn't help that for the majority of her life she had lived without a heart. She was unable to feel anything, not even love. And love, as we all know, is the most powerful magic out there. It was why she never understood it. So she was never satiated and in the end it got her killed."
"Do you think, if given enough time, that she could have been turned towards good?"
Regina scoffed, "My mother? Turned towards good? My mother was the most stubborn person I've ever met and also the most heartless. She abandoned her first child, your Aunt Zelena. She killed my Daniel..." Regina sighed. She didn't want to reflect sadness or anger about her mother to her son. Regina wanted to reflect upon herself, the person she once was; looking back at her mother as the person she could have been, and appreciate the good changes that made her a better and happier person. Realizing her derailment of thoughts, she shook her head and answered Henry's question. "I would like to think that if my mother had her heart she could have been rehabilitated, but she's gone now so we'll never know."
"If I had all that power… I'd want to direct it towards good. I really did mean what I said at the Town Hall meeting that day. I'd fight for everybody's happy endings."
Regina got close to Henry and sweetly caressed his face. "I know you would, honey. You're intentions are sweet as they are noble. But Henry, us villains..."
"You're not a villain, Mom," claimed Henry, cutting off his mother's negative insinuation about herself.
"But I once was," corrected Regina, "and the thing about us villains, like my mother, is that we all think that what we're doing is the right thing. You see, evil isn't born, it's created. In no way am I trying to justify what I did in my past, but I was hurt. And that hurt, if left unchecked, can turn into something monstrous changing you and your perspective on the world from the inside out. Often times than not we feed our own inner demons the wrong medicine, thinking that vengeance is the cure. It isn't. The trick is recognizing the monster within before it swallows all that is good and you forget who you are.
We all handle pain differently and the choices we make to handle that pain are not always right. But we're human. We make mistakes. So, Henry, you must be careful. Not every choice we make is so black or white, or good versus evil. One of these days, I won't be around to help you when you make a mistake. So with the power you have now, be grateful for it. You need to make sure that every decision you make is with a good heart, a good conscience and for the right reasons. Once you make a decision, you can't go back. That power, that magic, came at a terrible price for my mother and if we intend on continuing to use magic then we must be prepared to pay for it."
"I understand," nodded Henry as he came forward and hugged his mother. "I just want to see you happy."
"I am happy, Henry. It's just," Regina said as she pulled away from her son. She pulled back a loose strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear, "this time every year I leave to mourn and reflect."
"Can I be with you when you go?"
Surprised by his statement she asked skeptically, "Wouldn't you rather be celebrating Neal's birthday?"
"I'll go to both," Henry said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "I won't stay long at the birthday party and then I'll head straight to the vault."
She never expected anyone to understand her conflicted feelings towards her mother, let alone want to come with her to visit her mother's grave. Regina was both touched and surprised by Henry's consideration and looked as if she was about to cry. "Are you sure? If you don't want to come, I won't be offended. I'll completely understand."
"No, I want to be with you."
Regina smiled as she came forward to her son and kissed his head. "I'll see you at the vault, then," she said as she turned to leave the shop.
Neal's birthday party wasn't for another few hours so he resumed his cleaning spree, dusting the blinds above the filing cabinets. Once he finished dusting the backroom he worked his way to the front of the shop and started with the picture frames that hung on the back wall. He brought the ladder and his duster over to the wall and began dusting the highest frames first. As he dusted he noticed one of the picture frames below the top one he was currently dusting. The way it hung off of the wall was unlike the other frames. The other frames swung on the wall as he dusted them, the mysterious frame did not. In fact, it seemed as though it was glued to the wall. He reached down to pull on the frame and it swung forward, opening in front of him. A hidden safe was revealed to him.
"Woah," remarked Henry. His hand hovered over the combination dial and an invisible force spun the knob. He heard a small click within the safe release and he placed his hand on the handle. Just like when he first opened the Pawnshop, the safe's handle burned and cooled simultaneously in his hand. Mr. Gold had used blood magic to protect the safe as well. "Grandpa, what are you hiding in here that you wanted only me to find?"
He turned the handle and opened the safe. Inside he saw various tonics he assumed were dangerous and suspected would need careful revision later. He flipped through papers, deeds, contracts, and other important documents that would also need deciphering and interpreting later, but then he saw metal hide beneath the papers. Cogsworth! It was here the entire time!
Henry pulled out the watch from the safe and along with it folded documents that were rubber band to it. He immediately unfolded the parchment and on it briefly said in his grandfather's handwriting,
"Search for Arthur in Enchanted Forest. Use Sorcerer's hat. Get happy ending."
… …
Henry tapped the enchanted pocket-watch inside his coat, reassuring himself of its existence as he stepped into his grandparents apartment complex. He couldn't believe that he had found the well sought-after watch, and that disbelief had him patting the item through his coat like a nervous tick. He felt conflicted by the item. He wanted to tell his family. He knew he had to because of the promise he made to tell them. But as he thought about it, did he promise to tell them about the watch? He thought back on what it was that he had actually promised at the town meeting. He promised to use Cogsworth to help everyone get their happy endings. Henry thought about the promise he made to Regina and remembered that he only promised to tell her the moment he was able to gain access to the shop, which he did. There were no promises made to let people know when he found the watch, but the insinuation was implied. What harm was there in delaying his discovery?
Henry debated with himself. Tell them. Don't tell them.
He knew he should tell his family, but for reasons he couldn't articulate he just couldn't. He knew that it was the right thing to do, but the message his grandfather left behind for him gave him pause. Wouldn't this search for Arthur and using the Sorcerer's hat be the way he'd bring about the happy endings for everybody and thus fulfilling his promise to the people of Storybrooke? Does it matter how he brings the happy endings so long as everyone's happy? And what about his happiness? As much as he stared into the 'Once Upon A Time' book given by his grandmother, he just didn't feel like it existed for him. Happy endings are only for fairy tales and he wasn't a fairy tale. But perhaps this Sorcerer's hat could provide his happy ending. Henry needed to do more research; research that would undoubtedly drive the whole town into a frenzy if he were to tell everyone that he had discovered the watch. He needed time to investigate his grandfather's intentions and find the hat without disrupting Storybrooke's serenity. Henry felt impatient and just couldn't wait for politics to win out in his favor. So for the time being he justified his omission about the watch so that he could expedite his mission to find everyone's happy ending like he promised. But before he could run to his shop he needed to fulfill his current obligations, like attending a party.
The birthday party was hosted at his grandparents' studio apartment. All of his family were present when he arrived through the door. To his right, Emma and Killian stood over by the punch bowl talking to Aurora and Phillip. In front of him by the kitchen's island sink hovered Mary-Margaret, David, Ashley and her husband Sean, who appeared knee-deep in a conversation of their own. To his left over on his grandparents bed sat three little children playing with medieval action figures.
As soon as Henry entered the room, Neal's face lit up with excitement and shouted, "It's Henry! Mom! Dad! Nephew Henry's here!"
"Happy Birthday Uncle," replied Henry with a smile as he hid something from behind his back.
"What are you hiding, Nephew? Is it something magical from your shop?" asked the little boy as he collided with his much taller nephew for a hug. As soon as Neal mentioned, 'magic', the room became quiet. They all waited to see what Henry had brought.
"Sort of," said Henry as he revealed a thin rectangular box.
"Ooo! Is it an ipad?" guessed Neal as Henry handed the box to him. As soon as Neal held the box in his hands he began shaking it, trying to determine if he guessed correctly by the weight and the sound of things shifting in the box.
"No. Now quit guessing and open it already." Neal ripped open the present and discovered comic books. Neal looked up with slight disappointment, hoping to get something magical. Henry explained, "They're my old comic books."
"Oh thank goodness," sighed David in relief.
"I always thought that they were magical because they allowed me to escape to other worlds in my mind. Comics are great if you're learning how to read and the graphics really bring the stories to life. Just take a look here," said Henry as he pointed at one of the characters, "all these characters are heroes with powers too. This one is Wolverine and he can heal himself. This one is Hulk. He's super strong and can only get that way if he gets really mad. These are vintage and collectable comics so if you keep them in great condition you could sell them at over twice the value."
"Henry, I don't know if Neal can read those yet," Emma said looking back and forth at both her parents, noticing their expressions over the present exchange.
Henry turned to his mother and replied, "Why not? I started reading comics when I was his age. Besides, when he does start reading them he'll see that heroes exist in other worlds too."
"Say 'thank you', Neal," told Mary-Margaret to her son.
"Thank you," said Neal with a grateful smile as he quickly and curiously flipped through the first couple of pages staring at the pictures.
"You're welcome," said Henry as he rubbed the top of Neal's head. The other adults in the room resumed their cheery banter as Henry felt the pocket-watch sink heavy within his overcoat. Henry was anxious to get to his shop and was about to greet the rest of the family so he could take off when he heard Neal call to Henry in a subdued voice, "Psst… Henry…"
Henry stopped and turned to face his uncle, "Yeah Neal?"
Neal fidgeted with the comic books in his hand as he nervously and hesitantly stepped forward. "I… I, uh… can do stuff… with my hands."
"Yeah, and?" said Henry as he looked at Neal incredulously.
"No… I mean," said Neal as he lowered his voice, trying to be discreet. "Well, watch…"
Neal opened up one of the comic books that was still in his hands and flipped to a random page. He placed his small finger on one of the characters on the page and it sprung to life. On the page, the hero flexed and swung at the enemy. Then the hero retracted and remained frozen once again on the page.
"Neal!"
"Shhh!" hushed Neal to Henry.
"Neal, you have magic?" said Henry in a quieter voice as he looked around the room. At Neal's shushing, nobody seemed to notice them, which meant that Neal didn't want anybody to know. "Does anybody else know?"
Neal shook his head slowly. He bowed his head as if in shame and said, "Please don't tell anyone."
"Why? This is awesome news! You should embrace your abilities."
"I don't want this. I want to be normal."
"Kid, you're part of this family. Nothing about us is normal. I think you should tell every-" Henry stopped himself short. He felt like a hypocrite. He should tell everyone about his discovery of the pocket-watch today, but even he had his reasons for not letting people know. Henry justified that if he had his reasons, then so did Neal. "Look, we can't keep this a secret forever."
"I know. I just don't want everybody to know just yet."
"And just so you know, there's nothing wrong with being magical. It's how you use it that makes all the difference. So how about this, let me see if I can find a way to keep your powers at bay. If I can't find anything, we'll train together."
"Train?"
"Yeah, you're magical now. We need to train you so that you know how to control your magic. Then we'll tell everyone. Deal?" suggested Henry as he extended his hand.
Neal shook Henry's hand. "Yeah!"
"Ok. We'll talk about when and where to meet for these sessions later, but for now, just enjoy the party. Ok? I'll talk to you later, Uncle."
Neal beamed at his nephew and said, "Later Henry."
Neal returned to his friends over by the action figures and resumed playing while Henry got up to meet his mother and grandparents. "That was such a sweet gift," said Mary-Margaret to Henry.
"Yeah, I still can't believe you gave him your comics. You use to treasure those things," remarked Emma.
"I use to, but now that I'm working with actual magic I think I've finally outgrown them," replied Henry.
Henry's eagerness to leave was showing and Emma caught on. Noticing that Henry wasn't settling in to stay longer, she asked her son, "Are you going somewhere? Take off your jacket and stay for a while."
"I do actually have some place else to be. I'm sorry I'm unable to stay longer," said Henry.
"Let me guess, Paige?" Emma said with a smirk.
"Oh yes, Henry!" said Mary-Margaret with excitement over the new gossip. "You guys have been dating for quite some time now, haven't you? How is that going, by the way? How is she?"
"It's… been going. It's only been a couple of years, but I think Jefferson has finally warmed up to me dating his daughter so that's an improvement."
"Well, she's more than welcome to come over anytime," invited Mary-Margaret with a smile.
"Why isn't she here? Didn't you invite her to the party?" asked Killian.
"It's my fault," Henry admitted shaking his head shamefully. "I've had a lot on my mind lately, and never got around to inviting her. Running the shop and meeting with clients, there's never a dull moment at the shop. If it wasn't for Paige kidnapping me every so often, I don't think I would ever leave. I'm beginning to see why grandpa kept a cot in the back… but uh," Henry said as he combed his fingers through his hair, "I'm actually going to go visit Regina next."
"Why? What's wrong?" David inquired, his thoughts immediately jumping to something serious.
"Nothing's wrong, just some…," Henry searched for the words to honestly and adequately describe what his intentions were with Regina trying to avoid the subject of Cora altogether. He knew they wouldn't understand his reasons for visiting Cora with Regina. Regina was right. To bring Cora up into conversation on this happy occasion would only cause more drama. He didn't want to ruin Neal's birthday, so he finished his sentence and said, "family bonding."
"Oh, ok," said Mary-Margaret slightly disappointed, doing her best to be understanding. Henry came forward and hugged her first.
"Thank you for the gift," thanked David.
"It's my pleasure," said Henry as he hugged his grandfather.
"I'll save you a piece of the birthday cake for later," said Emma as she quickly kissed the top of his head.
"Make sure to get the one with the most icing," said Henry as he backed away from his family to leave the apartment.
Emma chuckled with a smile, "I will."
… …
Henry entered the catacombs of his family's vault and called out into the dark dank tomb, "Mom?"
His voice ricocheted off the walls as he waited patiently. Even as an adult entering his own family's vault, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive entering the ominous tomb alone.
"I'm down here in the west wing, Henry," called out a friendly voice from down below.
Henry descended the stairwell and into the west wing of the vault. When he arrived he saw his mother staring longingly over her mother's grave.
"Where's Robin?" asked Henry as he stood next to his mother.
"He went to deliver Roland to his mother and hang out with his men in the woods."
Henry nodded in acknowledgement and stared at the stone coffin with his mother in revered silence. After a few moments he asked, "So what are you reflecting upon?"
"Me. You. Robin. The Curse. Storybrooke. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any regrets about what I've done, but… I do wonder about the future. Storybrooke was supposed to be my happy ending… and it is. I guess I just didn't expect it to be other peoples' happy ending too." She inhaled and exhaled slowly as she stared at her mother's coffin. "You know what the curse taught me?"
"No," said Henry shaking his head, "What?"
"It taught me that happiness is not always what you expected it to be, that although you can create it you can't force it to happen. It just happens on its' own."
"What if there was a magical object that…" Henry was about to talk about the hat, but then quickly reneged on the idea. He didn't want to bring everybody's hopes up if the hat didn't pan out. "…nevermind."
" 'A magical object that' what?" reiterated Regina kindly, genuinely wanting to know what Henry was curious about.
"I… wonder if there's a magical object that could capture a person's happiness. Maybe retain it. That way if you're ever down, you could reference it and be boosted again."
"Actually, an object that you're describing does exist."
"It does?" said Henry surprised. Regina left the crypt and Henry followed after her. After walking a short distance, she led him to her potions and magical storage room. Henry looked on curiously as she opened a cabinet, pulling out a silver necklace with a giant emerald stone dangling at the end of it. Henry immediately recognized the object and exclaimed, "Woah! Isn't that-"
"Zelena's? Yes it is."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"It's not. This enchanted object is actually just a receptacle of one's gifts. Happiness is a gift and to capture it, one would only need to focus their positive memories into the object. For Zelena, it harbored all her magic. Now, if you can remember back to your lessons with Mr. Gold, magic is based off of emotional energy. If one were to pour that energy or power into this object it not only acts as a reservoir, but also an amplifier. Kind of like, whenever you look at picture and it reminds you of someone or something and your mind instantly becomes flooded with good or bad memories. This necklace acts like that."
"So what happens if the wearer takes off the necklace?"
"The wearer becomes weakened from that emotion of course. The energy becomes disconnected from the source."
"Do the symptoms last forever?"
"I wouldn't imagine so, but long enough to keep the wearer incapacitated for a while. It's like coming down from an emotional high. Eventually you do come down from it because you can't be happy or sad all the time. I would imagine the longer the exposure the longer the withdrawal, which is why Zelena was powerless when I took it from her. She must have worn the pendant for a really long time. So, I suppose it really depends on the host."
"Can I see it?" asked Henry as he thought about the different ways this object could help Neal.
"You can borrow it," she said as she handed it over to Henry. Henry accepted the charmed necklace and marveled at it with disbelief as he replied, "Really?"
"I know how important your quest is to find everybody's happy ending. I'm just glad this relic is finally being put to good use."
To those of you reading this chapter… Hooray! The internet to my computer is working!
Just two more flashback chapters and then we'll fast forward to the present. As always, thank you for your patience between postings. And thank you to NatalieMosherRumbelle, Imusicluver23, Grace5231973, ladybugsmomma, CrypticCobra, BreathingintheSun and Montreat11 for reading and reviewing. A lot of you really liked my insertion and take on Paige(Grace) from the previous chapter. She's in one more chapter of mine and I'm currently trying to think of how to incorporate her later in the story. But… if you don't see another appearance it's because Rumbelle and Henry are the main focuses to the story. Thank you for your understanding and I look forward to seeing you all next chapter!